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MILITARY MATTERS
Newsletter #69
8/14/00
Howdy all, and welcome to the 69th edition of Military Matters, the newsletter for About.com's U.S. Military Information Page. If you need information about anything concerning the Military, please try http://usmilitary.about.com. If you know anyone who is interested in military matters, please feel free to email them a copy of this newsletter.
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BACK-ISSUES: Back-issues of Military Matters are available to read online at:
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Vacationing the Military Way - Guest Author Tony Conboy III with more military travel discounts -- this time in Hawaii, Florida, and South Carolina.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/weekly/aa081300a.htm
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Previous Poll: Should Active Duty U.S. Military Personnel be Allowed to Pose Nude for Adult Magazines? 40 percent said (A) - No - On or off duty, military personnel represent the United States Military; 14 percent said (B) - Yes - The military should not infringe on off-duty activities; 4 percent said (C) - Yes, but only with the Command's approval; and 43 percent said (D) - Yes, but only if the photos/article does not indicate a connection to the military.
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This Issue's Poll: Are Anti-Recruiting Billboards a Good Way to Protest Veteran Healthcare Issues?
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NEWS AND COMMENTARY:
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Debating Columbia Aid: CARTAGENA, Colombia - Government soldiers trained and equipped
by Green Berets scour the jungles for the enemy. It's an image that recalls the early days of the Vietnam War.
But with the arrival of elite U.S. troops on an anti-drug training mission, Colombian leaders and Clinton administration
officials are vowing that this South American nation will not become another Vietnam for the United States. ``We
are not offering to engage U.S. troops. It's not on the table. It's simply not going to happen,'' said Barry McCaffrey,
President Clinton's point man in the war on drugs. McCaffrey, a Vietnam veteran and retired four-star general,
spoke Thursday about implementing Washington's $1.3 billion aid package for the anti-drug fight. Under the initiative,
U.S. Special Forces soldiers are training Colombian army anti-narcotics troops. With U.S.-supplied weapons and
helicopters, the Colombians are to seize drug crops from leftist guerrillas and other armed groups and allow their
subsequent eradication by crop-dusters. About 100 American servicemen, including members of the Army and the Air
Force, have begun training Colombian troops, the Pentagon said.
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Navy Giving Drug Users a Second Chance Before Boot Camp: Navy recruiters nationwide now must offer the future sailors they've signed up something more than good benefits and adventure: an on-the-spot drug test. In a bid to save sailors and money, the Navy stocked its 1,400 recruiting stations with "swizzle stick" kits that test urine samples for evidence of marijuana use. The test is voluntary and offered just before the recruit leaves for boot camp but after he has taken a mandatory test at a Military Entrance Processing Station. If the potential recruit agrees to take what would be his second test, the recruiter gives him a kit containing a plastic cup, dropper and testing pad, and sends him to the head. The recruit then produces a urine sample and places a few drops on the pad: If two vertical lines appear, he's clean. If only one appears, that indicates the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. The Navy figures that by finding marijuana smokers before they're sent to boot camp, where more drug tests are administered shortly after a recruit's arrival, it can save the expense of sending them there. Every year, more than 1,000 recruits fail the test at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill. Actually, there's another key purpose: Saving sailors from being thrown out. Recruits who flunk the drug test at boot camp are kicked out of the Navy, period. Processing for those who fail the test at the MEPor the recruiting station, however, is suspended for 45 days. If they're clean on a retest, they're off to boot camp.
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Frocking - Why not the Air Force?: When Frank Zupan looks in the mirror, something
is missing -- his first upper stripe. Zupan, a master sergeant select, still has a month to go before he is promoted.
He'd already have that stripe if he was a sailor or Marine -- and that bothers him. "If you're already in
a higher level of responsibility, which most of us are, you should be frocked," said Zupan, who's already
serving in a master sergeant's slot at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Frocking lets service members assume the title
and wear the higher rank months before their scheduled promotion dates as long as the Senate has confirmed their
promotions and they will be serving in positions requiring a higher grade. While other services embrace the practice,
frocking is prohibited for enlisted members and rare for officers in the Air Force. Although the extra pay doesn't
kick in until promotions are official, service members say frocking has its perks: peer recognition, increased
authority and a new identification card that sometimes means better housing, messing and parking on base. But not
in the Air Force, where frocking is almost taboo.
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SSGT Tenure Extension Limited to Six MOS's: The policy that provides two years of
additional tenure to staff sergeants in critically short-handed specialties has been updated. Under a policy that
took effect July 20, staff sergeants with 19 or more years of active service may request retention until 22 years
of service, provided they are serving in one of the following six military occupational specialties: * 00B, Diver
* 33W, Electronic Warfare/Intercept Systems Repairer * 55D, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist * 96B, Intelligence
Analyst * 96H, Imagery Ground Station Operator * 97B, Counterintelligence Agent. This special policy increases
the retention control point from 20 to 22 years for soldiers in the shortage specialties.
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Lost Nuke May Be Near Planned MND Site: COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A U.S. nuclear bomb lost more than three decades
ago probably lies on the seabed off Greenland's Thule airbase, which the United States aims to use for its controversial
anti-missile shield, a Danish newspaper reported Sunday. Classified documents obtained by a group of former workers
at Thule, an Arctic air and radar base built by the United States in 1951-52, suggest that one of four hydrogen
bombs on a B-52 bomber that crashed there in 1968 was never found, the daily Jyllands-Posten said. ``Detective
work by a group of former Thule workers indicates that an unexploded nuclear bomb probably still lies on the seabed
off Thule,'' the right-leaning mass-circulation daily said.
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Integration in the Military Results in More Racially-Mixed Marriages: When David Mina was growing up in Spanish Harlem, his mother, who is from Ecuador, taught him to ``stay with your own kind'' in matters of the heart. Then, when he was 17, Mina joined the Marines. And his world opened up. ``I started dating black women, white women,'' recalled Mina, 31. ``I dated who I was attracted to once I joined the military.'' For the first time in his life, Mina lived and worked with blacks and whites, depended on them and learned from them. Soon, he shed his Spanish Harlem ideas and formed some of his own. His experience in the military led him to settle in Norfolk with his wife of 12 years, Debra. She is a black woman. ``It was like, `Wow, this is a new world,' '' Mina said. ``Everything, everything was different.'' Mina is part of a regional anomaly: In Hampton Roads, largely because of its military population, interracial marriage is more common than it is in the South as a whole.
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The Credibility Crisis: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found in its study of military
culture that only 35 percent of servicemen surveyed agreed with the statement: "When my service’s senior leaders
say something, you can believe it’s true.” Expressing concerns about political sensitivities, only 44 percent of
junior officers expressed confidence that their own superiors "have the will to make the tough, sometimes
unpopular decisions that are in the best long-term interest of the service.” CSIS also cited the Navy’s three most
recent personnel studies, indicating that confidence has been eroding for some time. In 1996, 63 percent of Navy
officers and 41 percent of enlisted personnel were satisfied with overall Navy leadership. Two years later, respective
percentages fell to 51 percent and 36 percent, respectively. Only 36 percent of those surveyed by CSIS in all services
thought there was an atmosphere of trust between leaders and subordinates. Trust between Pentagon officials and
the troops they lead is essential for cohesion and an effective fighting force. (p. 72)
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A Perfect Day for Golf: FREETOWN –– It's a perfect day for golf. Eighty-five degrees. Clear skies. The Atlantic
Ocean is pounding on a crescent of perfect sand along the fourth hole. Overhead, British Army helicopters fly recon
patrols. And nearby, Indian Army Ghurkas in the blue helmets of U.N. peacekeepers man a machine gun nest, as armed
local militias ride around in pickup trucks. Welcome to Sierra Leone's Freetown Golf Club, where the sound of an
occasional gunshot hardly draws a stir. Here amid the ravages of civil war, golf, the game of the onetime colonialists,
has become a vestige of normalcy for the dwindling numbers of players who still frequent these weathered grounds.
"It's the only solace in this place," said Chris Mburu, a Kenyan human rights lawyer, as he strode around
the 17-hole course in May. "The work here is very stressful. You need golf." Players tend to move quickly
on the Freetown links. Maybe it's because playing golf in the world's poorest, most brutal war zone doesn't feel
entirely natural. Maybe it's the land mines.
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Retiring General says Military Too Small: WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The retiring commander of U.S. forces in the Persian
Gulf said the military has been cut too much and would have trouble mounting another major operation on the scale
of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "I think it definitely would be harder," said Marine Corps Gen. Anthony
Zinni, in a Thursday interview with CNN on the eve of his retirement from the military. Zinni is the latest critical
voice in the ongoing debate on military readiness, which became one focus of the Republican National Convention.
The four-star general said he believes the United States could still win a major war like the one fought to oust
Iraq from Kuwait, but that it would be more difficult with today's smaller military. And Zinni told CNN that while
the United States could carry out its stated goal of being able to win two major wars at once, it could do so only
with great risk and high casualties in the second conflict.
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DOD Surveys Reservists, Spouses: Between August and November 2000, the Department of Defense (DoD) is conducting
its first comprehensive satisfaction surveys of military Reserve force personnel and their spouses in eight years.
A survey questionnaire is being mailed to 75,000 Reserve and National Guard members. A different questionnaire
is being sent to 43,000 spouses. In a first for the Reserves, recipients are able to return the written questionnaires
or respond via the Internet.
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DOD Announces Winners of Fantasy Career Contest: The Department of Defense, in cooperation with Yahoo! Inc., today
announced the winners of the "Yahoo! Fantasy Careers in Today's Military Contest." Each of the military
Services, Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force and Coast Guard, selected one winner to experience one of the challenging
careers available in today's military.
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Architects of Hollow Military See No Evil: WASHINGTON – There is good news and bad news about the column published
in Thursday's Washington Post by former Clinton-Gore Secretary of Defense William Perry and his former chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Shalikashvili. The good news is that, with their essay, titled "The
U.S. Military: Still the Best by Far," these prominent Democrats(1) have further intensified a needed debate
over the condition of today's armed forces - and tomorrow's.(2) The bad news is that Perry and Shalikashvili's
contribution to that debate has been less than helpful. In important respects, their assessment of the question
at hand - namely, has the reduction in the size and capability of the U.S. military over the past decade been excessive,
leading to a condition where it "cannot adequately protect American national interests"? - is highly
misleading, transparently politicized and, because the authors should know better, seemingly intentionally disingenuous.
In the final analysis, it may well be that, as two of the leading architects of the hollow military Clinton is
bequeathing to his successor, Secretary Perry and Gen. Shalikashvili cannot objectively discuss their handiwork.
If so, it would be better for all involved if they did not inject themselves into the public debate about their
dubious legacy.
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Military - Biased Against Men?: Army Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy claimed in 1996 that Maj. Gen. Larry Smith had "groped”
her in her open-door Pentagon office. She did not file a formal complaint until 1999, when the alleged harasser
was scheduled for a sensitive promotion. Before Smith had the opportunity to respond, the Army reportedly "substantiated”
her account. Smith, who had a flawless record and numerous character witnesses, flatly denied the charge, but was
reprimanded and forced to resign. The Army concluded that Kennedy - who is enjoying new fame, close ties to Clinton
political operatives and a book deal - was credible and had "no reason to lie.” In the aftermath of the Tailhook
1991 sex abuse scandal, the careers of scores of aviators were ruined. No courts-martial were successful because
of numerous violations of due process rights by the office of the Department of Defense’s inspector general. Unprofessional
and abusive investigative techniques rendered the official report on Tailhook inadmissible as evidence in three
judicial proceedings. Cmdr. Robert E. Stumpf, a decorated Desert Storm hero and former commander of the Navy's
Blue Angels, was denied promotion to captain, even though a Navy board cleared him of wrongdoing at Tailhook. By
contrast, a female Navy officer who claimed that male aviators had gang-raped her later admitted under oath that
she had lied. She was not punished for her false accusation.
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Doctor Offers Explanation for Gulf War Syndrome: HUTCHINSON -- A published report by a Hutchinson physician supports
a popular medical belief that the Gulf War Syndrome isn't a singular disease. "I think it's plausible that
a combination of factors put together may have made some people ill," said Dr. Jeffrey Sartin. Sartin, an
inactive Air Force reservist, publishes his findings in the August issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The study
includes his experiences as a medical researcher along with reviews of similar studies. He is an infectious-disease
specialist with Internal Medicine Specialists. In previous studies, he has evaluated about 400 Gulf War veterans
as part of the government's Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program, which sought the origins of Gulf War Syndrome.
In his report, Sartin prefers use of "Gulf War Illnesses," rather than the term syndrome, to describe
the many undiagnosed problems reported by veterans returning from the war.
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Airborne! - What it Takes to Earn the Silver Wings: FORT BENNING, GA. -- Relief washed over Pvt. Phillip Taylor
as he watched the C-141 Starlifter's jump doors slam shut. High winds over the drop zone had thwarted his first
parachute jump in Army Airborne School. The waiting had seemed endless as Taylor sat watching his fellow classmates
disappear out the rear doors of the aircraft. But when his 10-member "stick" stood up to go, the jumpmasters
canceled the jump and ordered them back to their seats. Taylor wouldn't have long to relax -- a lull in the wind
gusts sent the plane right back over the target. His body went limp with fear. The stench of JP8 jet fuel had Taylor's
stomach churning with nausea. Within minutes, the jump doors were thrown open, flooding the plane with a deafening
blast of air. Soon Taylor was straining to hear the jump commands, hooking up his static line and performing final
equipment checks.
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In the "New" Army, Airborne will Still Lead the Way: Moving at ground-breaking speed, Army leaders are
engineering the Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Lewis, Wash., to be thrown into a fight and survive without support
from heavy forces. But despite its versatility, the future fighting force may never leave the staging area unless
paratroopers open the door. Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki's vision of blending the deployablity of light forces
with the staying power of heavy outfits is sure to change the Army like never before. But students of ground warfare
say it will be some time before the Army outgrows the need for airborne units. "My opinion of what the chief
wants to do is ... it's exactly on target," said retired Gen. Carl Ernst, former commanding general for the
Army's Infantry Center. "Anything that will lighten the Army and raise its technological advantage is a good
thing. "We still have to have the capability for a forcible-entry situation -- that is a hostile environment
where we are not invited."
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Russian Sub Crippled on Seabed: MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian nuclear submarine malfunctioned while on navy exercises
in the Barents Sea, and was trapped Monday on the ocean bottom with more than 100 crew members aboard, a navy spokesman
said. The Oscar-class submarine was not carrying any nuclear weapons and there was no immediate danger, said Igor
Dygalo, head of the navy press service. The navy declined to say just what had gone wrong with the submarine, describing
it only as a "malfunction." No radiation leaks were reported and the vessel's two nuclear reactors had
been shut down, he said. Rescue ships were rushing to assist the stricken submarine, which was in radio contact
with surface vessels, the spokesman said.
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Violence Flares up in E. Timor: JAKARTA, Indonesia –– Militia groups with ties to the Indonesian military have
sneaked into East Timor and are carrying out bold attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in the newly independent nation,
U.N. officials and Western diplomats said today. The assaults have resulted in the deaths of two peacekeepers in
the past three weeks and have escalated tensions along the rugged, 100-mile border separating U.N.-controlled East
Timor from western Timor, the part of the island that remains under Indonesian control. The violence also has complicated
efforts to send home more than 100,000 East Timorese refugees from squalid camps in western Timor and raises the
prospect that an international security force will have to remain in East Timor longer than planned to control
the militias, which oppose the territory's independence from Indonesia.
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Milosevic Warned to Stay Out of Montenegro: WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration is worried that Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic may be preparing stir up new problems in the Balkans with a move against Montenegro. Only 14
months ago, NATO airstrikes drove Serb forces out of Kosovo to end the Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanians
in the Serbian province. Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav federation, is seen as a potential
target because it has a pro-Western government whose leaders have made no secret of a desire for independence.
The United States is warning Milosevic to let the republic live in peace. As early as January, Undersecretary of
State Thomas Pickering was asked in the Albanian capital Tirana about possible Milosevic moves in Montenegro. "Any
further conflict in the region should be avoided," Pickering said. He added: "We are prepared to stand
firm against any military actions of Milosevic's in the region."
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Montgomery G.I. Bill Unused by 50 Percent: WASHINGTON -- Can you imagine turning down $20,000 in education benefits
-- especially if you paid for it in advance with cold cash and sweat equity? Half of all service members eligible
for Montgomery GI Bill benefits regularly do just that, according to Department of Veterans Affairs officials.
Service members qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill benefits by contributing a nonrefundable $100 per month throughout
their first year of active service and successfully completing an active-duty "hitch."
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Navy Overhauls Enlisted Promotion System: The Navy has overhauled its advancement system to reward sailors who
demonstrate a high level of experience and professionalism by giving them a better chance to move up in paygrade.
For E-4 and E-5 candidates, their score on the petty officer advancement exam no longer is the most important factor
-- now evaluations get the most weight. For E-6s, evaluations continue to be the most important factor -- underscored
by the fact that they're boosted from 35 percent of the final multiple, to 41.5 percent. And sailors who passed
the exams in the past but were not advanced now get a huge boost in the "final multiple score" that determines
who moves up a paygrade. The advancement system overhaul is the first in a quarter-century and is effective immediately.
Reservists taking the advancement exams this month and active-duty sailors taking it in September will be scored
according to the new standards.
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Around and About:
Military Sounds -- Military songs, music, and misc. military sound effects.
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What the Recruiter Never Told You - Multi-part series about the truth of military pay and benefits.
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Military History - The latest articles, information, and resources about military history.
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CHAT: Dennis Fauchier (DennisHOST) will be hosting General Military Chats every Saturday from 6:00 PM (EST) to
7:00 PM (EST) and every Wednesday from 12:00 PM (EST) to 1:00 PM (EST). Edward Hanrahan (AssassinHOST) will host
every Saturday night from 9:00 PM (EST) to 1:00 AM (EST).
http://usmilitary.about.com/mpchat.htm
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At Da Nang, a tough, experienced Marine lieutenant was indoctrinating a group of men fresh in for service in his
platoon. "Don't never sell these boys out here short! They're rough, tough, real blitzers! Never mind what
you learnt in trainin', fergft all that jazz and remember they're battle-tough and take no sh*t. Don't let lem
out of your sight. If they jump fer cover, you jump, too. Don't never take your eye off 'em."
One GI piped up, "Just how near to the Viet Cong are we, Lieutenant?"
"Who the hell said anything about the VC?" the officer shouted, "I'm talking about my own Gunnies!"
For more military humor, check out the Military Humor Netlink on the About.com U.S. Military Site at
http://usmilitary.about.com/msubmenujokes.htm
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With those words of wisdom, I once again leave you.,
Rod Powers
About.com's U.S. Military Information Site
